Is there anything more painful than buying a car? Apart from your house or condo, it is one of our largest expenditures. When we were thinking of buying our Toyota I looked at Consumer Reports. There was an article answering the question, which car if you buy today will you likely be still driving in 15 years. Our Toyota was listed.

Now, of course, that assumes regular maintenance such as brakes, regular oil changes, tires, etc. None of that is cheap but it is always, yup, always less than a new car. And most cars made these days will go a long way – much further and much longer than most drivers think. Now I’ve stated that as fact and you may doubt that. But if you do the math – I think you’ll find I’m accurate.

Many people however no longer buy a vehicle, they only lease and see monthly payments of a lease as a matter of cash flow and a cost of living.

April 2023 Consumer Report has an interesting article on the worst and best vehicles.

Top of the list – BMW! Next is Subaru. The list below gives the continuum.

Land Rover sits at the bottom. Even though you’ll see many of their luxury vehicles on the road! Dodge beat out Ford – hard to believe…but there’s the data. CR indicates that “The rankings can be helpful to shoppers by indicating the brands that shine and those should be approached with more caution. The brands that land at the bottom are those that tend to fall short in our road tests and/or with reliability. They may still offer good cars but not consistently across their model range, and buyers should be wary.”

But that’s for new vehicles! And for brands tested.

I met a man today by the name of Bill – I know him from our early times in Edmonton but I have not seen him for years. He also loves old cars and he just bought a 1958 Mercury, which he tells me was his first car at age 17. I’m anxious to see it and am hoping to connect with him in the coming weeks. If I do there will be pictures! I think it was the Turnpike, but I’ll need to go see it!